Overview
- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Erich K., who was born into an observant family in Moravia. Mr. K. describes his happy childhood; the German occupation in 1939; his arrest, three months later, by the Gestapo for helping people cross the border; and his work in the camps of Dachau (1940), Neuengamme (1941), and Auschwitz (1942-1944) as a locksmith and plumber. He relates witnessing medical experimentation and other atrocities and his gradual desensitization; explains how he managed to survive, and help others, including his wife and son, to survive, even though he was labelled a "Geheimnisträger", i.e., someone who knew too much to be permitted to live; and describes the dismantling of the gas chambers in November, 1944. Mr. K. stresses the importance of documentation, including his and others' attempts, while in the camps, to alert the Allies. He also speaks of his postwar life in Czechoslovakia; emigration to Israel in 1968; and his work as a researcher in Yad Vashem.
- Published
- Jerusalem, Israel : Holocaust Survivors Film Project, 1979
- Interview Date
- April 17, 1979.
- Locale
- Czechoslovakia
Moravia (Czech Republic) - Cite As
- Erich K. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-75). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Notes
-
Unpublished finding available in repository; 1/2 in. VHS is linked to finding aid by time coding.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Copies
- 3 copies: 3/4 in. master; 3/4 in. dub; and 1/2 in. VHS with time coding.
- Physical Description
- 1 videorecording (1 hr., 5 min.) : col
Keywords & Subjects
- Subjects (Local Yale)
- Concentration camps Underground movements.
- Subjects
- Holocaust survivors. Video tapes. Men. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Jewish resistance. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities. Human experimentation in medicine. Czechoslovakia. Moravia (Czech Republic) Oral histories (document genres) K., Erich. Dachau (Concentration camp) Auschwitz (Concentration camp) Neuengamme (Concentration camp)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Special Collection
-
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Link to Yale University Library Catalog:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/616938
- Record last modified:
- 2018-06-04 13:32:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/hvt616938
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